Zazie Beetz said stepping into the Warner Bros. horror action-comedy film They Will Kill You came with a unique kind of pressure because director Kirill Sokolov wrote the role of Asia with her specifically in mind.
“I do think it puts more pressure in a way to… Somebody’s envisioning you as this, and so you, for me at least, I wonder, I’m like, ‘What did you envision? Did you envision the version that I would do, or did you write it in the way that I would eventually interpret it?’ And so of course I go into it not wanting to disappoint,” Beetz said while speaking to Blavity’s Shadow and Act after the film’s presentation at BlerDCon. “And he has this idea of, ‘She’s going to bridge it this way, or going to do this with a character.’ And then on day one, I maybe come in totally left field with something else. Yeah, I feel that pressure. You feel that pressure any project you do, of course.
She continued, “But I think if someone has a strong vision and has been living with that in their head, it does take some time, I think, to maybe undo exactly what they had laid out and then replace it with whatever you do. But I know Kirill, he told me, he was like, ‘On the second day of shooting, I knew.’ He was like, ‘Wow, the version I just had in my head had died and you were just fully Asia.’ And that was nice to hear at the time. And he was so encouraging and just so loving toward me with everything that I did. Yeah, but of course there is pressure for sure with that.”
Zazie Beetz says They Will Kill You plays with tone across genres
Beetz said the film’s shifting tone was part of what drew her to the project.
“The tone of this movie is definitely action, comedy, thriller, horror, so totally a blend of all different kinds of things. I think you can expect all of that, truly,” she said. “I love playing with tone. I also don’t necessarily like pigeonholing myself into one thing. I want to have fun with my work, and I want to just see what I’m drawn to, see what I connect with creatively.
“And I like being in a tension of two different things. I like if something is tragic and funny, or scary but grounded. I think that that’s where art feels creative and interesting. And I’m mostly drawn to, is the role interesting to me, is the story interesting to me? And then whatever it ends up being tonally is what it ends up being.”
She added that heightened worlds can give actors room to explore characters in interesting ways.
“Personally, I think I am drawn to a little bit heightened things. I think that’s how you can really explore the human psyche in an interesting way, within extremes and things that are a little bit left of center,” Beetz said.
“I think Yorgos Lanthimos does a great job of that. His films are a little bit in the absurd, and so then as an actor, you can really express that and play with that,” she added. “And I think They Will Kill You does that too. It’s an absurd world. Asia is grounded, having a grounded experience, but of course, with the extremes all around her, she’s also going to have some extreme reactions. And as a performer, that’s fun to do.”
She also said grounding the character was important when navigating the film’s campier elements.
“Yeah. I think that’s always the balance with camp. I think if you go into a ‘campy film’ with the intention of making it clownish, I think that takes away from it,” Beetz said.
“I think for her, it’s dead serious, literally. This is her life. They’re trying to kill her,” she continued. “So I think of Asia as the audience of discovering alongside her everything that’s happening. And so for her, she’s reacting, I think, the way any audience member would.”
Zazie Beetz on fan excitement and horror’s growing recognition
Beetz said seeing audiences already theorize about the film has been exciting.
“Oh my goodness. It’s so special. I mean, you work so hard on these things, and you really hope it resonates with people,” she said.
“This is why I’m here, because I know that this community here at BlerDCon, they’re the people who, A, I feel like have supported me so much throughout my career, like the Black community, the Black nerd community, and I want to connect with my fans,” she added.
“And so I feel like I hope with this film that they feel me reaching out too, of, ‘I want to make things that you like.’ And to see people already having ideas and thoughts about who this character is, or where she’s coming from, or what’s going on is incredible,” she continued. “Yeah, it makes me feel, I don’t know, blessed. I love feeling that energy, that excitement, and hopefully people enjoy the movie.”
Beetz also reflected on how horror has evolved as a genre and how it can explore deeper themes.
“Yeah. I mean, I think horror, again, like I was saying earlier, it’s just another reflection of the human experience, and perhaps a more heightened one,” she said.
“Horror also exists in our day-to-day lives. I think horror can also, it’s gone through its phases. If you think of something like The Shining, I would consider that also a horror to a degree,” she continued.
“And I think you can really play with the psychological elements, what are the characters going through psychologically. And I think as an actor, it’s an incredible sandbox to play in,” she added. “I personally think, having done a couple of scary-feeling movies, as a performer, it takes a lot of energy to play fearful and to be grounded in that and to have this heightened experience, especially if there are other relational things going on.”
She also pointed to recent films that have pushed horror further into the awards conversation.
“Yeah, I mean, I definitely think, especially for something like Sinners, I feel like there could be space in the academy space,” Beetz said. “If we’re exploring things within the horror genre, you can explore real political ideas, real identity ideas, as we’ve seen different films do. And why not? I mean, if it’s good, it’s good.”
Beetz added that genre shouldn’t limit recognition for strong filmmaking.
“Your body gets stressed out. I mean, not even just being… It’s like any performing, really. If you’re trying to do your best job, it’s a lot of energy,” she said. “And I think an academy film should just be a good film that can be any genre. So if it’s resonating with people, if people are feeling seen, heard, sure, why not? I think horror should be in the Oscars.”
They Will Kill You will be in theaters on March 27.